


Spin Off

by Hyacinthium



Series: Oumasai/Saiou Week Au [6]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Daily Life with Depression, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Introspection, Light Angst, M/M, POV Saihara Shuichi, Plans For The Future, soft sci-fi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-23
Updated: 2018-06-23
Packaged: 2019-05-27 09:57:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15022118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hyacinthium/pseuds/Hyacinthium
Summary: Kokichi likes games and moving forward. Shuichi is the same, but everyone has their problems and everyone has different ways of coping. Some are worse than others.





	Spin Off

**Author's Note:**

> Day Six, Alternate Universe/Talentswap.

Shuichi stares down at Kokichi's laptop in confusion. There is an awful lot of pixels and polygons, lovingly made virti-D models, and a bunch of little icons constantly being pressed. It looks like an mmo. One of the few remaining games that don't actually require VR or AR too. Shuichi recalls hearing about the stubborn monolith on the radio. But that isn't what gets his attention, as finding Kokichi rushing through a video game for a weekend or so is normal. 

“A… an insect tamer?” he slowly says. “But don't you hate bugs a lot?”

Kokichi gasps and looks at his Giant Orchid Mantis, watching the thing brutally stab a misshapen demon. He's named it… Stacy. The name sounds familiar in the way that all things related to Ogata’s dramas do. The huge bug's ‘nickname’ is Sappi Stabbies.

It proceeds to spit acidic sap that poisons a huge area, explaining the affectionate title. 

Multiple people start cursing. 

“Nooooobbbs, if it wasn't allowed then it wouldn't be in the game!” Kokichi viciously crows, spamming a smug emote. 

He then receives a bunch of comments on how slow his reaction time is, despite his character being in the top ten according to a small list in the left corner. Shuichi can barely make out the exact numbers. Backwards compatible games like this are always filled with too many windows. 

“Stop being so old and get a VR console!” yells what sounds like a pre-teen. 

Their character then shrivels into a sticky mummy.

Kokichi wheezes on amusement, “Pay attention to my wonderful baby's skill layout and put on poison nullifiers!”

Shuichi’s eyebrows raise and he walks over to their living-dining room. It's no longer as hot as it once was, autumn now being the season of choice, but Shuichi feels a bit sweaty from the commute home. He strips off his outer layers and unbuttons his plain white shirt. Knowing Kokichi, there's a warm bath waiting for him. Still. 

Things have improved since Shuichi's last dip, and there's a few wedding magazines on the coffee table. 

“Oh shit,” Kokichi hisses. 

Looking over from where he'd thumbed open the magazine, Shuichi straight away notices an absolutely huge centaur like monstrosity. It must be big enough to house a city on its lava crusted back. 

Cries of dismay sound out. But soon, they are silenced. 

Kokichi glares at his laptop screen and quietly exits out of the game. His cheeks puff out the way that they always do, the exact pout of the Upset Kokichi. 

“Why did you do that?” Shuichi asks. 

A set of purple eyes glare up at him this time, a bit of something else joining Kokichi's annoyed face, “You can only have one character and there's an hour or longer time out when you die.”

That's all the explanation that Shuichi needs. Even though that game is able to be played without VR, it remains a VR game. If either of them wanted, then there would be massive and immersion worlds to jump into, and Kokichi could even touch Stacy with his own mentally provided hands. But Shuichi himself has had little desire to play such a game.

He can't imagine how Kokichi feels about it. 

It's later in the week that he finds out. 

To be more exact, Shuichi finds out how Kokichi feels about quite a few things. They're out on a short vacation to watch the seasonal changing of maple trees and such. 

The view from the bridge that they're on is incredibly vivid. 

“Hey Shumai,” Kokichi says as red leaves drift onto serene waters. “I think I wanna buy a VR console.”

But Shuichi knows that that has to be a lie. They've talked about getting into AR, just simple augmented reality products, or simply unmodifying their phones. It's always rather unsettling to know that the majority of everyone thought meet is decades ahead of you. Kokichi himself despises the whole arrangement, though they chose to not remember. 

He knows well enough to let Kokichi finish, though. 

Kokichi grabs Shuichi's hand and pulls him away from the red painted bridge. The dirt path of the natural trail paints footsteps with a sense of relaxation, despite the upcoming conversation. 

Kokichi brings himself to a stop near an orange painted bench. Shuichi sits down and watches Kokichi stay standing. It's uncomfortable. 

“I just think that it would help us both move on, especially since a bunch of us have already done it,” he says. 

Shuichi nods, “It is common and sound advice to confront your issues.”

Kokichi smiles even though his body fidgets. 

A strand of hair starts to be twirled. 

“So we'll go get something cheap. Or make Miu give us something!” he chirps. “We'll play games together.”

Kokichi's voice is so obviously stilted to Shuichi's ears. It's clear that he's trying to hide something right now, something that living together has trained Shuichi to notice. His slowly returning memories have merely complicated things on that front. ‘Why would you lie like that?’, is a phrase that comes to mind. 

As they wrap up their fall leaf viewing session, Shuichi considers pushing, but pushing Kokichi on this right now would be a mistake in the end. 

Shuichi waits. 

They get home from their trip, and Shuichi barely has any time before work pulls him into its clutches. Theft this time. It make Shuichi remember a certain moment of Phantom Thief and Detective, an admittedly happy memory, and he puts his all into it. Kokichi is similarly swamped with working at the preschool due to a sudden increase of illness. One sneeze is apparently all that everyone needs to get sick, and Kokichi is the only utterly unaffected teacher. 

Thoughts of VR games sink into the background. 

At least for Shuichi. 

At least, up until it's announced that Team Dangan Ronpa and its many branches are finally, fully; dead. 

Not even shell corporations remain. 

The entire world has finished picking apart the megalithic testament to human cruelty. Normally, all survivors of the monstrosity would be as glad as other related news. This time though… 

“So all the unclaimed memories are being given over to the government?” Himiko asks. 

She, Maki, and Shuichi are barely paying attention to even the news announcement. Outside of the restaurant, away from their booth, there are people also taking in the breaking news. A few elderly people seem to be cheering about it all. 

Shuichi spots a teen rip off a round pin and throw it to the floor. 

The pettiness in him melds with past regrets and says that the kid is better off. The rest of him agrees. 

Maki clicks her fingernails against their laminated table, “About time. I don't care about the things just sitting around, and everyone that wanted them has them.”

“Well, duh. But I dunno if I want the government to have their hands on that stuff,” Himiko grumbles. She sets her matcha latte down and glares back up at the screen.

They take a moment to consider it. 

In their sixteen people strong group there is no one who, not even Kirumi, actually trusts the system that happily allowed Dangan Ronpa. 

Not after finding out that Tsumugi was almost quietly shoved into some dark Institution, just because her memories made her ‘disagreeable’. Shuichi can barely stand interacting with her even now, but… 

“That's actually why I asked you two to come here.”

Two pairs of eyes meet each other. 

“Are you going to go for a June wedding after all?” Maki grimaces. “The person you plan to marry would hate that.”

Shuichi face flushes, “We've talked about it and-”

He coughs when Himiko's joking leer fully registers. 

The world famous magician starts teasing Shuichi about everyone knowing what happens when he and Kokichi argue, which Maki finds hilarious for some reason, and Shuichi slowly sinks into his seat. If only Kaede's recital hadn't been moved up. Then, wait, she'd tease him even more. Damn it. Only Gonta has any idea of romance these days. Everyone else has grown into such boring adults. 

“Oh no… I'm starting to think like Kokichi,” he mumbles into his palm. 

Maki snorts. 

A waiter refills their drinks and makes sure that they're satisfied. 

“So what's the actual deal with you two?” Himiko asks. She's again swirling her hot drink together, lips tight in concentration. 

“Kokichi said that he wants to get into VR stuff,” Shuichi groans. 

Before they can reply, “And I know that we should both at least attempt to approach the issue. I just can't help but think that there's something else.”

“Oh, there has to be,” Maki nods. 

Himiko sighs and drinks her matcha, “He wouldn't be him if there wasn't something else. And I trust you to notice this stuff correctly.”

Ah, right. Even now that everyone has become closer and genuine friends, there is still a part of Shuichi-Kokichi that only exists for them. It's an expected thing that Shuichi and Kokichi will notice things about the other best. Shuichi drinks his cappuccino and tries to hide the smile on his lips. 

Becoming that one couple isn't so bad. 

“But you should try it out. We should all move forward with this world in addition to dragging it out the muck.”

Maki's fragrant cinnamon coffee and similar eyes drill straight past Shuichi's hesitance. The smell always makes Shuichi wake up, an ingrained response from when he and Maki would spend nights talking after her memories were returned. She'd whisper and shout in unintentional alterations, while others would visit, stuck walking round the nightlight filled halls of their own personal ‘Recovery House’. 

It is a bit funny, knowing that she and Kokichi regularly chat over their phones now. Though Maki's communication device of choice looks like a watch. Maki is also the one who convinced Shuichi to let his parents visit him. If not for those late night sessions, the woman before him, then Shuichi would probably have a very different life. He should call them again. 

“And yes, I'll try it out with you two. There actually is a little game I like.”

Himiko raises both eyebrows and stares at her booth buddy. 

“Miss Still-Unable-to-Confess plays ‘little vr games’?” Himiko squeaks. Both at how Maki reacts and just because of the mental images, Shuichi supposes. 

The conversation soon turns to Maki and her own relationship adventures, memory caches purposefully left for later. The sun starts to go down, people get up to head back home, and Shuichi says goodbye to his friends. It will likely be a while before the three of them can meet up like this again. Maki is busy with her college classes, and Himiko is usually traveling with her girlfriends. 

"So how are Tenko and Angie doing?" Maki attempts to use as a conversation changer. But, Himiko has grown up shameless. 

Shuichi smiles and laughs, letting his worry melt down, but he remains aware that he lives out his dream, so to speak. Like that and when they get up to go back to their abodes, Shuichi doesn't stop thinking. 

A dream being lived is only the same in its most basic particle; being with Ouma Kokichi. 

Knowing and remembering himself is decidedly disappointing. There's enough to be disgusted, enough to have pity, and all together there is the fact that Saihara Shuichi was just a stupid if ill adjusted teen. Looking at it all reveals the strange fact that he'd just been slightly above average in horrible rating. Painfully common in the end. 

That's what Shuichi sees of the world and what his therapist tells him, the facts that pop up each time Shuichi looks for them.

Dangan Ronpa was skilled at grooming it's audience for fodder. The world was skilled at justifying it. Sometimes, it still tries. 

Shuichi gets on his bus and tries to reassure himself. 

Kokichi prefers to clear his mind by walking, but Shuichi likes to zone out into ‘critical thinking hour’, though it works as often as it doesn't. The quiet thrumming of the bus engine lulls his heartbeat down. 

Kokichi using VR won't innately cause harm. Or rather, VR isn't inherently evil and only capable of hurt. The thing that eventually gave birth to Dangan Ronpa's Virtual World was first made for therapy. It's used to this day. Plenty of therapy options involve use of Virtual or Augmented reality. Everyone is living in the future, after all. 

Maki is ultimately correct in her insinuation. Shuichi has helped drag the world forward from Dangan Ronpa, while refusing to do the same. 

Kokichi has probably been waiting for him. 

Shuichi nods to Ogata and asks Watanabe if the mail has come, receiving a nod from the doorman and learning that Kokichi has already taken it up. 

A bit of dread swells. 

When Shuichi makes it into their apartment, he sees that Kokichi is on the couch, eating a lemon blueberry cupcake and looking at some envelopes. Shuichi can see a few that they've been waiting for. The one for Kokichi's surgery being the one that stands out the most. Then another has the logo of-

It's like a dizzy spell hits. Why is there a letter about their old memories in Kokichi's hands? 

“Shuichi?” comes a soft and worried voice. Purple eyes stare up at Shuichi's frozen body. Then, Kokichi looks down at the mail and slowly pushes them aside, shaking off crumbs and frowning.

The detective doesn't want to know. But he asks anyway, “Are you. Do you want your memories back?”

Kokichi grimaces and looks back at their coffee table. 

Shuichi’s throat closes up. 

Kokichi just exhales and walks forward, until they're hugging, standing up on his toes until their embrace is complete. Shuichi isn't entirely sure if the hug actually makes him feel better or not. He isn't sure if- no. He's completely aware that the idea of Kokichi remembering makes nausea rise up. Shuichi doesn't want Kokichi to carry those memories. 

But that isn't a choice for Shuichi to decide on. They don't belong to him, and Kokichi is his own autonomous human being. 

It will hurt. It already hurts now, still hurt Kokichi in the stimulation, and getting them all back will just make it worse. Shuichi himself is feeling the brunt of what may as be nightmares. 

Kokichi still hasn't answered.

Shuichi drops his bag to the floor and holds Kokichi tighter. 

“I can't,” Kokichi says. “I can't because someone took advantage of transport prep and scrubbed them.”

Inhale, Shuichi's body tells him. Take in oxygen and exhale. He leans away from Kokichi, and slowly brings them both over to the letters. Kokichi slides it over to him with slightly shaking hands, legs tapping, and watches while Shuichi reads. 

Starting off with an apology for negligence, the letter details the circumstances, and that approximately all of the memories formerly held by Team Dangan Ronpa had been cleaned, and simplified to the point of uselessness. At least for actually remembering. They remained as melted down outlines, excluding age six and before. 

“Time of estimated occurrence is at least six months ago, basically meaning just before they started temp holding,” Kokichi snorts. “A way of saying that it's not their responsibility.”

Shuichi isn't quite sure how to feel. He could be happy, he could be sad, but in the end he's just guilty. 

Getting what you wish for tends to be like that. 

A hand lightly smacks Shuichi's arm. 

“Why don't we go play a game? Forgot about that shit and do something fun!” Kokichi says. 

“But-” 

Kokichi smiles, “I didn't exactly want them. I just wanted to know, since my Shuichi is going to remember anyway.”

Shuichi’s chest tightens and his heart leaps into his throat. So that's why Kokichi has been worrying. Of course he would, it only makes sense, and of course Kokichi would wait for things to get straighten out before saying something. Shuichi knows how cautious Kokichi can be. The detective is fairly certain that Kokichi does want that VR console though. Looking at that other important piece of mail makes it easy to learn why. 

Being a detective doesn't stop someone from senseless worry and spiraling. 

Having a multiple years long relationship doesn't stop anxiety and self consciousness from keeping you quiet either. 

“Lets buy a two person console. You can even use it to figure out what you want from the surgery,” Shuichi mumbles, his voice low. 

Purple eyes light up. 

Kokichi laughs and laughs, a sound that makes Shuichi pout with reddening ears. 

“Put my eggs in a freezer in case I ever want them, get a permanently attached penis, and adopt some kids with you,” he says with eyes soft and lips wide. Half moon and crescent. “That's the dream.”

Hands slapping down to grab his cell phone, Shuichi sputters something to try and distract from how much of a lobster he must be. Surely Kokichi will be satisfied with that. There is no way that, yeah nevermind, Shuichi is doomed. He can see the smug look on Kokichi's face even from poor peripheral vision. 

A laptop gets pulled out from under the couch. Kokichi turns the shockingly steady yet thin thing on, and slides the now open page for a VR console over to Shuichi's area. 

No avoiding that blush of yours, Kokichi's hand seems to comment. 

Different tabs are open though, and Shuichi remembers talking about it before. This isn't exactly a new topic. Fairly old in fact, back when Kokichi came to school wearing pants and with once lower back length hair cut to his shoulder. Pastel purple bandages changed to loud and near viciously bright colors. 

Shuichi swallows. 

It's not the first time they've considered children as a couple either. 

“Sometimes I house hunt,” he admits. “We could afford it right now too. After we get married, that's more options.”

Kokichi laughs with something like relief in his voice. 

“I've thought about doing it myself before, talking about it with Miu and Kiibo on how I might handle it. There are just so many kids already, really great kids, and they don't have anyone,” Kokichi says. Shuichi knows what those words also mean. “Miu is still open for being a surrogate though…”

Their spare hands wrap around one another, and Shuichi tries to speak.

“I think I'd like adoption,” he murmurs with some near intelligible words about it all. It makes Kokichi hum and laugh. 

Shuichi slowly puts the console into their cart. Payment information gets filled out and Kokichi demands that the color be a bright lime green. 

They meet eyes. 

“I'm going to make you pet Stacy McStabbi Sappington for hours. Her personality type is affectionate! She might even drool on y-”

Shuichi lovingly shoves a spare pillow into Kokichi's sneering face. The haunting apparition vanishes into a storm of giggles, the evil vanquished, and Kokichi quietly hiccups as he melts into the couch. 

Fingers switch tabs into a article on childproofing and how to plan house buying for big families.

**Author's Note:**

> Hhhha, I didn't really get to follow up on the prompt the way I wanted to. But I think that touching more of parts of this au as a whole does sorta follow the AU part of the prompt. And I did try to meld them via that mmo where Kokichi is a buggy boy. It just turned out this way. 
> 
> In a way, this whole series is me exploring the canon setting via AU.


End file.
